Guard My Heart
by Sam Cuddles
Summary: Her father entrusted him with her life. She entrusted him with her heart. This is the story of the bodyguard. AU [ON HIATUS]
1. Chapter 1

It rang loud and he stirred slightly. Less than a minute passed and instincts that have been honed and trained made him sit up abruptly, steel eyes taking a sweep in the room. Nothing was out of sorts, no immediate danger resided with him. It rang again and he closed his eyes, knowing the moment he accepted the call, his peace and quiet for the moment would be broken and he'd have no choice but to obey orders.

He lifted the hand off of his waist, setting the limb non too gently on the sheets, uncaring if its owner woke up or not. It would be better if they did, the sooner the woman woke up the sooner she would leave. Throwing back the sheets, he grabbed his pants, drawing them over lean hips, passing the belt through the loops before buckling it. Padding barefoot, he made to his jacket, where it lay on the back of the chair, along with his gun and hostler, where his phone was ringing nonstop. He took his time putting on the shirt not bothering to button it just yet. Right inner pocket and the phone was in his hand and he wanted to throw out from the balcony, his room on the 52nd floor would ensure its destruction.

It's been almost a year. Actually, tomorrow would be the first anniversary of her departure. It's been almost a fucking year from the last time he had seen her in person, heard her voice. It's been almost a year sine the last time her name lightened up his mobile screen, flashing repeatedly, mocking, taunting, pushing against a wound that bled still. She had left, where she demanded of him not to follow. All he had known that she went to her mother and the ex-wife of Mr. Chu changed countries like one would change his underwear. One day the media would spot them in a ball thrown by the former minister of Italy the next week they would be in Paris for the fashion week and so it went. She had bloomed, blossomed into a remarkable young woman. Influential, beautiful, and kind-hearted. Money and fame had not tainted Chu Ga Eul.

It picked up again and he answered. Call him a masochist or answering out of morbid curiosity. Silence greeted him and her soft breathing reached his ears. Something akin to a heavy weight shifted and his shoulders sagged a bit and he could breathe a little better after a year of incapability to breathe at all. Endless nights of watching her breathe as she slept near him, in his bed and in his arms had caused him endless sleepless nights where he didn't know if she breathed still or not. It was only a week later where the call came and she informed her father of her whereabouts and being over 21, Mr. Chu could do nothing but agree to let her go much to his dismay. He had wanted the vicious tycoon to drag her back to Seoul kicking and screaming. Three months has passed and he relayed on articles in magazines or on the internet to keep up with her and then he stopped waiting for her to pick up the phone to call him or come see him in person to tell him why she left. She didn't and he had been crushed and it took him getting four bullets in a drive by shooting to wake up and realize she was not coming home. It took him a month to get better and get back to his job, being one of the personal bodyguards of Chu Dong Sang, powerful business man, owner of Chu Investments, Chu Gourmets and Chu Couture, and the brother in-law of Song Joong Hoo, business tycoon and real-estate prince with alleged ties to the mafia and despite the divorce between Mr. Chu and his wife, Song`s baby sister, the two continued to work together despite the familial problems.

The steady breathing broke and he heard the catch as if she was standing in front of him, trembling and softly crying and he hated how she affected him still, even after what she did, that she still had the ability to soften his heart. He supposed as long as he continued to love her, Chu Ga Eul would always have power over him.

He heard rustling and looked at the bed, the sheets dropping to reveal the cheap flesh of the girl he picked up at a bar this evening. She was a poor substitute to the real thing, to the thing he wanted. She had the same coloring. Dark long hair and bright eyes. Approximate height and weight. Yet it wasn't enough. She didn't have that small scar behind her knee when she fell off the motorbike, he knew because he had checked. She didn't kiss where the bullet he took for her skinned his neck. She didn't fit him like a glove. She didn't cradle his head as he took them to heavenly heights and back. She didn't say his name like she used.

"_Yi Jeong…"_

Just like that, in that breathless tone of hers. She made his name sound so special, so warm. She uttered it like she was caressing it, the letters rolling around her tongue intimately.

"_I am not ready to see you tomorrow!"_

Ah yes, the reason why he went out and sought a girl just like her. He figured if he fucked a version of her he'd be able to erase her, erase wanting her so that when he saw her, he wouldn't kiss her senseless or trap them in one of the many rooms in her father's mansion.

Said girl walked toward him, not bashful of her nakedness. She flaunted it, hoping to catch his attention and have him for another round or two, as if the previous three were not enough for her. If he had to be honest the first one was one too many for him. He blamed the drinks.

"_Yi Jeong!" pause, hitched breaths "Just don't hang up"_

She went to her knees, unbuckling and lowering the pants he just put on until the fabric gathered around his ankles. She took the phone, Ga Eul`s breathing becoming distant until she ended the call, setting the phone on the table behind him.

He allowed her. He wanted to forget just for the night. He wanted the numbness.

Chu Ga Eul was coming back to Seoul tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

Chu Dong Sang closed his eyes as long soft fingers began to message his flesh, releasing the tension in his aching neck muscles. A whiff of sultry perfume reached his nostrils and he let himself lean back in his leather chair, both to relax and get closer to the addicting smell.

"Rough night?" the owner of the hands that were beginning to work their magic, purred suggestively. The sound once upon a time acting like euphoria, heating his blood and hardening his body. Now, it did nothing but grate on his nerves, the tone akin to nails on a chalkboard.

Patting her hands, a sign to stop her wandering touch. He gave her a sideway smile, feeling his facial muscles protesting while stretching to bare his teeth at her.

He wasn't always like this, nor were his feelings this cold towards her. There was a time when she was all he saw, all he breathed. Blinded by her and her young beauty, he was swept unaware in her web of seduction and manipulations. It wasn't until recently that he had started feeling a little bit more free, the spell she wove around him, lifting bit by bit.

Sunny was not always like this …_correction.. _ he hadn't seen her for what she was; a conniving scheming gold digger, looking for a sugar daddy to drive into an early grave after convincing him to turn all of his assets to her and only her, driving his only child away from him in the process.

He looked at his desk and frowned. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed the missing pictures before or how they were replaced by others. Pictures of his daughter were gone. Pictures of his family were absent as well. The shelves were also void of any sign of his old life, a life before Sunny. Instead, pictures of her were almost everywhere. On his desk, on the shelves, a big portrait hanging on one of the walls, a similar one was in the living room, the dinning room and their bedroom. She had invaded his life, took it by storm, wrecking everything, the only traces left were the ones that belonged to Sunny and Sunny alone. His lover after twenty years of failed marriage. After his divorce, the now single multi-millionaire business tycoon was thrust back into the market of eligible bachelors despite having a nineteen year old daughter. Sunny a year older than his daughter and had studied in the same university as Ga Eul. The two had become fast friends, Ga Eul not knowing that she was being used as a means to an end. Once aware of Sunny`s new status in the Chu clan, as his lover; the two had a falling out. His daughter had felt used, and his lover felt justified and he had been blinded by Sunny that he felt estranged from his own flesh and blood. Two years were apparently the limit to his daughter's patience before she left Korea to join her mother and being over twenty-one he had no choice but to agree to it.

At first he had felt happy, the mansion no longer icy with the cold stares of the two strong-willed women. He ate his meals relaxed, enjoying devoting his attention to the beauty next to him, no stress of offending his child with showing affection in public. They had the house to themselves and he was no longer worried about keeping the sounds of sex to a minimum and they had enjoyed christening many rooms in the large mansion. The novelty soon wore off. Now it had been close to two months since he had taken Sunny to his bed. The latter had been more than willing, in his bed, in his car, in his office, each and every place but he had always an excuse to put the brakes on her advances and turn her down. Much like he just did a few minutes ago.

"Not now Sunny. I am a little busy here!"

"You're always busy Oppa." She whined as she turned around to sit on the plush leather couch opposite of his desk, crossing her long bare legs suggestively, trying to tempt him. The sight of those legs did something to him a long time ago, now it filled him with nothing but boredom. It was always the same tricks with Sunny. He did desire sexual intimacy but he found himself longing for companionship. Someone who asked about his day, who would cook for him, pick out his suit for a ball or a business dinner. Something his ex-wife used to did. At that time he despised it but now he found himself missing those silly habits, silly acts of love.

"I need to go over the last details for the security team. I can't have any slip ups or incompetence."

"You're changing staff?" He arched a graying eyebrow elegantly at her raised panicked tone, knowing full well what she was fearing.

"Merely rearranging. After all, I can't have my only child and heir unprotected, now can I?" he stressed the words 'only' and 'heir' on purpose, becoming aware of her true intentions. He had asked himself why he kept her with him if he knew what she was after, the big fat wallet in his back pocket. His answer, payback. Show her that no one tricked a Chu and got away with it; a lesson he learned from Ga Eul when she had Sunny pick up a priceless diamond bracelet from a pond of mud, her humiliation to tricking her.

"Ga Eul is coming back?"

"The jet should be touching ground as we speak. So Yi Jeong is there to pick her up."

"Yi Jeong?"

"Yes. He _is _her bodyguard just like he once was!"

**_Incheon International Airport_**

He stood his back straight and his shoulder squared back. His face was hidden behind the black aviator sunglasses, lips firmly pressed; emotionless. His hands were clasped in front of him, his feet evenly apart. Dressed from head to toe in black, he was the primal example of the perfect bodyguard. On the driver's side, a similarly dressed man stood waiting to get behind the wheel and start driving the white Mercedes. He was posted on the passenger side, ready to open the door to the backseat and slip in his afterwards. Two black cars were parked behind them, with four men each posted strategically, covering every corner, eyes open to any possible threat, each one armed and trained to take down threats in the least amount of time.

They all bore the same emotionless expression, from the outside as well as the inside. They appeared calm and collected, focused on the job; providing optimal security to the Chu heiress. His mission was no different except from the inside he was burning with turmoil. His eyes, had they not been covered would have betrayed him. He had seen them first thing in the morning as he stared in the mirror after his long shower. They had been bright, unusually so. The usually guarded black eyes were stripped down bare to the very basics of feelings. Angry at _her_, pained because of _her_ and longing for _her_.

He could feel his own irregular heartbeats thudding against his ribs, with enough force to be actually and physically painful. As the jet came to a stop, the door opened and the stairs were being lowered to touch the asphalt. The barn where the jet was always kept

was property of Mr. Chu thus the cars were allowed inside to pick up the lone passenger on board.

He willed himself to stay in place and not move a muscle against the instinct that roared to life that _demanded_ that he walk closer to her, see her face, touch it, touch her, and maybe he could whisk them away from the guards, from her father and from her, Ga Eul herself.

He heard the engines roar to life yet the distinctive sound of her heels clicking on the ground was getting louder and louder the closer she got to him.

Her face was partially hidden by the beige clouche she had on her head, a white satin ribbon wrapped around the edge before ending in a small bow at the right side of her head. The once ebony hair was now dyed a rich brown-reddish shade, cascading in wide ringlets around her shoulders, the tip caressing the swells of her breasts. She wore a deep red, knee-length dress, thick shoulder straps and a squared neckline, a simple necklace; a princess cut diamond surrounded in a square of white gold hung in the hollow of her throat. The chain was translucent, so it gave the appearance that the shimmering gem was just floating on skin white as snow. She looked flawless, as if she had stepped out from a vintage movie production. Her sense of style changing as she had been exposed to a whole new world, one she explored for a year along side with her mother.

He turned, opened the door to the expensive vehicle and waited. She was within arm's reach, her head still hidden, her eyes cast down.

She was at the door and in a second she would be inside the car and they could start their way back to the princess castle, where the poor servant boy couldn't follow. She paused and even with her heels she barely reached under his chin and he was reminded with a time where he found out that Chu Ga Eul`s head stopped four inches under his chin.

She was facing him now, pausing and he waited with baited breath as her head lifted, revealing itself to his eyes. Lips painted deep red, the shade matching the one of her dress, round flawless cheeks, dark curled lashes fluttering until they reveal the hidden pearls inside. Two brown ones stared unblinking back at him, holding his own captive even behind his dark shades. Her face showed nothing of the emotional wreck that called him last night. They both held their masks in place. The cool ice princess and the cold-hearted guardian.

Once the trunk was closed with her suitcases inside, she lowered herself gracefully inside, her hands neatly folded in her lap, staring ahead. Carefully, he closed the door and sliding in the comfortably leather seat of the car.

Pressing on the flesh-colored earpiece, he gave firm directions as to how they will commute and the roads they're going to use. The Chu security staff preferred to travel on the main roads instead of back roads where chances of an attack was likely taking advantage of closed-quarters and the low population.

One of the black cars drove ahead, and they followed it, the third one falling behind them. He itched to rub the back of his neck, where a patch of skin was visible where his shirt ended, his hair not long enough to cover it up. He could feel two holes beginning to form.

He dialed the private line of his boss, her father and waited until the call got picked up.

"We are thirty minutes away, sir. Anything else Mr. Chu?"

_"Just keep my daughter alive, Yi Jeong."_

The ride was silent except for the occasional orders he gave. It wasn't until the pulled up to the iron gates of the mansion that Ga Eul had spoken up.

"What are they doing here?"

The 'they' she was referring to was a swarm of flashing cameras and people blocking their entrance. As far as he knew, no one was told of her comeback, hell even he wasn't informed until a day before her flight. Her father wanted a smooth and safe return to his only child, not wanting to alert anyone who might have an agenda against him that his Achilles heels had returned home.

Once they were spotted, like a swarm of bees they surrounded the car, blinding flashes of the cameras and microphones were being shoved at the windows, over the ceiling to try to pick up anything.

They droved up the mansion, the gates closing behind them, the shouts of the press ignored. The car came to a stop and he sighed, knowing as her personal guard, assigned by her father, that he had to watch over her constantly; within and outside the Chu mansion. His room had been moved to her floor, next to her room. It was just them, him and her alone and the thought was more scary and nerve wrecking than facing the firing squad. She was back and he had no idea what to say or how he was supposed to act around her. Should he act as her personal shadow, all about the job, without any regards to the fact that they had been lovers? What if ruined any chance of getting what they had lost, what _she _had thrown away carelessly?

She stepped from the car, brushing invisible lint from her dress before starting to walk to the front door. He followed, falling a step behind her. Two lines of maids and butlers were standing on each side of the marble staircase that would take her to her floor. They all bowed, one maid in her black and white French maid uniform stepped forwards and took her bag, carrying the expensive designer bag carefully, waiting for instructions.

"Have my things moved to my room. Is my father home?"

"He is in the study young mistress. Do you wish for us to tell him of your arrival?"

"No. Tell him I am in my room and I don't wish to be disturbed."

She walked, heels clicking on shiny marble floor, started to ascend the stairs. He stood still, watching the movement of her hips as she moved gracefully, the tight dress hugging her curves lovingly. She stopped, her face looking ahead as Sunny stopped on her way down, facing them. Both women stood within a foot of each other, not looking at one another, and everyone waited for one of them to push the other down the stairs. That was how much they hated each other.

It was Ga Eul who turned, at the top of the stairs before they staircase split into two, one to the right and the other to the left. Her eyes bypassed the other girl, landing squarely on him. Her red lips stretching lazily and he found himself gulping nervously. This woman wasn't the sweet innocent girl that he used to pick up from college in her first year, or the one that blushed to the roots of her hair when she saw him bare-chested in the swimming pool, or the one who touched him so softly in a night where she took his breath and he took her virginity. This woman was strong… no Ga Eul was always strong but this one seemed much more than that, aware of the power she held and the one she would inherit someday. More assertive, mature and not willing to be pushed around, certainly not by Sunny, a woman who was trying to become the sole person responsible for the Chu fortune. This was Chu Ga Eul 2.0. New and enhanced and all his.

"Aren't you coming Yi Jeong?"

He removed his shades, pocketing them before following her up the stairs. He paused a stair away from where Ga Eul was facing him. With a nod, she turned and took the left stairs that would lead her to her room. He paused before he made to follow. Leaning closer, his breath would surely tickle the other woman as he whispered in her ear.

"I'll never be yours, Sunny."

He stepped back, fixing her with cold mocking gaze as his eyes looked up and down at her, scoffing like he found her severely lacking.

"It's always Ga Eul. Always!"


End file.
